Food and Bev: What happens in Vegas...

...always happens with style and abundance.

I just got back a couple days ago from an epic trip across the country: making it through seven airports in ten days, here was my trip:

Cleveland, OH - my older sister graduated from medical school (!)
Amarillo, TX - my whole family went home for a couple days (not home by birth, but by recent transplant in 2006)
Las Vegas, NV - my sisters and I took a short trip as just the three of us (for the first time ever!)

It was my first time in The Vegas, but my sisters had both gone once before. It was a truly superlative experience -- from the gorgeous Chihuly glass at the Bellagio to the miles of sparkling sidewalks (sparkling due both to tourist attire and the mica flecks in the concrete) along the Strip, everything was colorful, loud, big, lavish, and...well...superlative. I had a fantastic time, but I can only imagine that it would be overwhelming (and not to mention $$$) if we had stayed much longer than we did! It was the perfect little getaway for three sisters much in need of spa treatments and retail therapy.

Besides the legendary Vegas buffets and spectacularly overpriced drinks at the clubs, by the pool, and on the Strip (open containers are encouraged), we hit our culinary jackpot at Aureole. It was everything you would expect of a Vegas restaurant: sophisticated décor, a snazzy digital wine list, reputed Calvin-Klein-catsuit-clad sommeliers flying around on wires (we didn't see any), and an eight-course tasting menu to match.

(there were technically four courses, but two were brought out side-by-side, at the same time)

First and second course: (featuring seafood crudo) hamachi alongside fluke with a spectacular lime sauce that I swore up and down had coconut in it
Third and fourth course: (featuring carrots) lobster tail and scallop, with a carrot-papaya salad and carrot foam
Fifth and sixth course: (featuring lamb, which we all substituted for a tantalizing halibut) stewed leg of lamb, which didn't disturb my spectacular halibut over udon noodles one bit (though the waiter looked at us all quizzically)
Seventh and eighth course: (featuring peaches) a lovely peach ice cream in phyllo, and a peach frangipane tart (my sister, who is allergic to nuts--poor girl--had the best, silkiest panna cotta I've ever tasted in my life)

...And then the second round of desserts came, unannounced. Just as we were nicely filled up and boozy and ready for a nap, the waiter brought out a gorgeous selection of fresh sorbets (including raspberry, Meyer lemon, orange, and what I think was melon), a sampler of generous-sized mini cakes, and a dish of mignardises (mais, bien sûr).

Of course, in keeping with the Vegas-theme, everything was plated gorgeously and bursting with flavor. I had to restrain myself from snapping photos all night at the dinner table, but when the desserts arrived, I couldn't resist. How could I miss documenting such beautiful works of art? A paper-thin slice of pineapple that defied gravity almost as unbelievably as the acrobats in the Cirque du Soleil show we saw? The colorful chocolate tuile perched jauntily atop the chocolate financier? The latter (near-half) part of our meal seemed to convey our whole Vegas experience perfectly.